John Greyhound Maxwell On-line Concert

Hi MMO friends-- My brother, John Greyhound Maxwell, is doing a live on-line concert at 5pm Central Time on Friday, 7/31/20 at www.KPTZ.org. KPTZ is a community radio station in Port Townsend, Washington, where my brother lives, and they are partnering with Rainshadow Recording Studio on these live concerts. Should be a good concert, and I'm sure we'll hear some blues mandolin! Steve

Collective MMO Recording Notes

I promised the orchestra I'd collect some notes from players contributing to "Minneapolis March" to allow us to compare what we did and might have wished we did.  I think for the most part, we used what we had, but several players had suggestions for others wanting to improve.

Recording Devices

Most people used an iPad or Mac to record their audio and video.  One player used an Android tablet.  Several people played audio through headphones from one device, while recording into another.  One player recorded audio with an office computer and later synchronized video from an iPhone, more on this in advice....

Software

The most common submission used whatever software was bundled with the device -- Quicktime, Camera, Garage Band....  A few people used free or relatively inexpensive digital-audio-workstation (DAW) and video-editing software, which I'll list here

• Audacity
• Cubasis2 with the Amplitube Accoustic Free plugin
• OBS Studio
• Shotcut

Microphones

While several people used the built-in microphones, they tend to sound tinny and pick up lots of background noise.  A number of players used and suggest getting either a lavalier mic, e.g. PoPVoice for less than $20, or an inexpensive condenser mic, e.g. Blue Snowball, sometimes for less than $50, though it seems there's been a run on home-audio/video market lately.

A complication for microphones is you must plug it into your recording device.  Most computers can use USB A/B or mini stereo 3.5mm (also called 1/8").  Fewer and fewer phones have 3.5mm stereo inputs now.  I've been able to use USB microphones with a powered USB hub as input for phones and tablets, but it's a hassle.  USB C hasn't caught on for audio and some of the USB C adaptors are flakey.  There aren't a lot of high-quality inexpensive Bluetooth microphones yet, but your phone wireless headset will likely work better than the built-in microphone.

You'll be able to use fancier microphones (i.e. with XLR or 1/4" jacks) if you use a USB audio interface, e.g. from Focusrite or Behringer.  I picked up a simple interface on-sale a few years ago at Guitar Center for $75, but it's usually easier just to use a USB mic.

Cameras

Everyone replying to the survey used built-in webcams.  Several people complained that orienting laptop built-in cameras was cumbersome and at least one planned on using an external camera.

Advice

• Get an external microphone if you're using the built-in one.
• Get a helper, at the very least to aim or compose your video.
• Record your audio first, separately from video. 
• You'll have fewer distractions and can focus on the important stuff.  
• After that, make a video of you playing along (with headphones or speakers, it doesn't matter).  Throw in some dance moves.  Shoot at an exotic location.  Go nuts.
• You can replace the audio on the video with the good stuff you did in the first step.
• Experiment with the audio settings and placement of mics and cameras.
• Don't worry about reverb or other effects.
• Let Ben do his magic, but give him the clearest, cleanest material to work with.
• Use a camera on a stand.  Small tripods cost less than $10, gorilla style camera ones for less than $15.  (Local photoshops and electronic stores have them, too.)
• Experiment with lighting, even turning a music-stand lamp upside-down.  Some music-stand and reading LEDs even have color/warmth settings.
• Post experiments, experiences, and questions here on the blog.

Minnesota Virtual Mandolin Orchestra

The Minnesota Virtual Mandolin Orchestra makes its premeire with the "Minneapolis March" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiSixDXuj40

We've had several requests from venues for virtual performances in lieu of in-person ones.  Our performances at Loring Park and Lake Harriet have been cancelled.  Centennial Lakes has asked that we reschedule and limit our presence to five players. As a result, the Carl Street Quartet will be substituting for the MMO August 27th.

Mike Marshall's Virtual Mandolin Orchestra

In case you haven't seen it, Mike Marshall mixed a bunch of his students playing Lonesome Moonlight Waltz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS860XKgma4

Tiffany Defense

I have the details sorted for my thesis defense and thought you may be interested.  I can't guarantee Netflix-level entertainment, but if you're not careful, you may learn something!

In the meantime, stay healthy and sane!

~ Tiffany

Time: Thursday, May 7, 9:00 am (Central Time)

Meeting ID: 988 4848 3113
Zoom Meeting: https://umn.zoom.us/j/98848483113 
Join by SIP: 98848483113@zoomcrc.com 

Thesis title: "Pacinian Corpuscles in Dupuytren Disease"
Abstract:

The sense of touch is processed by the somatosensory system in which mechanoreceptors are the sensory neurons that translate mechanical stimuli into neural impulses by using specialized mechanoreceptive end organs.  Pacinian corpuscles (PCs) are the mechanoreceptor responsible for sensing low-amplitude, high-frequency vibrations.  In this thesis, I explored how vibrotactile perception is mediated by the PCs using a combination of computational modeling, benchtop experiments on donor tissue, and psychophysical tests.  We investigated the effect that Dupuytren disease (DD) has on vibrotactile perception.  Dupuytren disease is a progressive hand disorder in which growth and densitification of fibrous tissue in the palms eventually causes the affected fingers to bend irreversibly.  DD usually presents clinically after the age of 50, affects about 3 per 10,000 adults, and is associated with alterations to the size and the internal structure of PCs.  By measuring vibrotactile sensitivity in healthy and DD subjects, we found that women are more sensitive to high-frequency vibrations than men and that men with DD may exhibit reduced sensitivity compared to men without DD.  We also found that, for patients in which DD presents unilaterally, the finger with DD is less sensitive than the corresponding finger on the unaffected hand.  These data may serve as a useful reference to future DD researchers and may facilitate development of novel diagnostic or prognostic protocols.  Finally, we designed a system to measure the viscoelastic properties of the PC and tested isolated human cadaveric PCs from donors with and without DD to better understand how the mechanoreceptor's viscoelastic properties affect vibrotactile perception. 

Lady Templeton's Clog

I recorded this yesterday.  Blogger won't accept mp3 uploads, so I exported it into a quick video.  Lady Templeton's Clog is just one of the more than 1000 tunes in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, which I highly recommend downloading.

Rie Muto Paradiso

Another excellent composition by Rie Muto:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgwxwTk8rhA

For your listening pleasure.  This is hilarious and a very talented guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAYccibw5V4&fbclid=IwAR1ZdQxxZDWGD295iDeOcL3SE_d1pc3LBrbsPUj4ueWmQBBr_nIhF2LpBxw

Lou

SAP Arts Festival 2020 Canceled

The Saint Anthony Park Arts Festival, originally scheduled for Saturday, June 6, has been canceled. That means another canceled mandolin orchestra concert. We'll wait and see about the other concerts on our schedule.

Hamamatsu Municipal High School Mandolin Club plays Cobalt Blue Miracle

I can't listen to a mandolin orchestra in person now, but I can listen to mandolin orchestras on youtube. I watched this performance of Rie Muto's Cobalt Blue Miracle more than once today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ3myqkCSLc